The training partnership of Grant Cullen (left) and Guy Lowry picked up a win with Eastern Warrior on their home track at Hastings.
Hastings trainers had a field day at their local race meeting on Thursday of last week, with four different stables taking out four of the nine events on the Hawke's Bay programme.
The partnership of Guy Lowry and Grant Cullen started the ball rolling when they produced Eastern Warrior to score a gutsy win in the opening event.
Surpriseus then lived up to her name by winning race two at odds of 37 to one for trainer Kate Hercock while John Bary picked up a win with Glimpse in race 7and Paul Nelson took out the eighth with Look Out.
Eastern Warrior was having her first start for the Lowry/Cullen partnership and had only been in their care for 10 days.
The Shamoline Warrior filly is part-owned by Christchurch-based trainer Peter Rudkin, who produced her to finish fifth on debut in October last year and then gave her an 850m trial at Rangiora last month.
"Peter sent her up to us in great order and we didn't have to do too much work with her before last week's race," Guy Lowry said this week.
"She has come to us because there are more opportunities up here over the next few weeks than down south. Distance wise we don't know how far she will go but she easily held her rivals at bay last week so she deserves a chance at black type races," Lowry added.
Eastern Warrior had to be good to win last Thursday's 800m two-year-old dash. She drew the extreme outside in the 10 horse field and was a bit awkwardly away for jockey Samantha Collett.
However she quickly mustered speed to sit three-wide outside the leaders coming to the home turn and took over on straightening up.
Eastern Warrior was challenged by several other runners inside the last 300 metres but kicked clear in the final stages for a decisive 1-1/2 length win.
Lowry said the filly has come through the win in great order will now back up in tomorrow's Listed $50,000 Courtesy Ford Ryder Stakes (1200m) at Awapuni.
Former successful jockey Kate Hercock brought up her first win as a trainer when Surpriseus was successful in a 1200m maiden race at last week's Hawke's Bay meeting.
The 3-year-old Shamoline Warrior filly certainly surprised the punters with a $38 win dividend at her second start.
She managed only 11th out of 12 on debut over 1200m at Awapuni back in November last year but was then given a spell to strengthen and showed a glimpse of her ability by recording a fast finishing second in a 1000m Foxton trial on June 21.
"The win did come as a bit of a surprise but I thought she would definitely finish in the first five," Hercock said this week.
"She is a horse that has always shown a bit and won a couple of jumpouts last year but she cut her leg and everything kept going wrong with her.
"We decided to try her in blinkers and I think that made a big difference last week."
Surpriseus drew an outside barrier last week and was forced to travel three-wide throughout. Jockey Cameron Lammas started to urge her along coming to the home turn and she finished the race off strongly to get up and win by 2 lengths.
Hercock, 39, was born in Hastings and kicked home 237 winners during her 15-year career as a jockey, four of those victories coming in black type races.
"I rode my first winner as a jockey on the Hastings track so it was great to get my first win here as a trainer too," she added.
She was based in Matamata for most of her riding career but also spent the past two years in Macau where she held a position as an assistant trainer before returning to New Zealand.
She then took out a permit to train licence and was employed as a pre-trainer for Waikato Stud for a time before moving back to Hawke's Bay two years ago.
Hercock has 15 horses in work at the moment. She has a property in Otane, where she still concentrates on pre-training, and also has horses based at Hawke's Bay Racing's stables in Wall Rd, close to the Hastings track.
Surpriseus is raced by Ralph and Corrine Kearney and it was also their first success as owners. The couple owned Okaharau Station at Elsthorpe, in Hawke's Bay, but sold that farm earlier this year and now own a property in the Matamata area.
Surpriseus is bred to excel over longer distances than 1200m as her dam Lady Pompallier is a Postponed mare who won four races from 1600m to 2100m.
Glimpse went some way towards living up to her excellent breeding when she broke through for a maiden win over 1650m at Hastings last week.
The daughter of Rip Van Winkle is out of the Kingdom Bay mare Taitanium, who was the winner of five races and stakes placed.
She is now dead but was also the dam of the 2014 Wellington Cup winner Graphic (five wins) and Tenacity (five wins).
Glimpse is owned by Hunterville couple Christopher and Susanna Grace and was originally trained by Emily Holmes.
She was transferred to John Bary's Hastings stable last month and had her first start from the new base when ninth over 1400m at Hastings on June 30.
She obviously improved a lot from that run and scored a decisive 2 length victory last week.
Rider Cameron Lammas settled the mare just in behind the leading division before getting a run through to lodge a challenge rounding the home bend.
The 4-year-old shot clear soon after and kept up a strong run to the line.
Look Out looked a promising stayer in the making when he powered home to win a maiden race over 1650m at Hastings last week.
The 5-year-old Nom du Jeu gelding was having his second start for Hastings trainer Paul Nelson, following a good fresh up sixth over 1400m on the same track last month.
Nelson took over the training of Look Out last December after health problems prevented the horse's Feilding owner Gary Freeman from continuing to train the horse.
"Gary has been in ill-health and so we have set up a syndicate to race the horse and he has kept a share," Nelson said this week.
"It was a great result for those who have come in on the horse and hopefully it provided Gary with a boost."
Paul Nelson also has a racing share while the other syndicate members are his brothers, David and Mark, and close friends Brian Guerin, David Holden, Stuart Mitchell, Mike Stovell and Peter Tod from Hawke's Bay and Manawatu's Angus MacLeod.
The country's leading jockey Samantha Collett was aboard Look Out last week and settled the gelding back fourth last in the early stages before sending him forward starting the last 600 metres.
The horse was the widest on the turn into the home straight but maintained a strong finishing burst down the outside of the track to get up and win by half a length.
Top class Hastings mare Miss Wilson has run her last race.
The Group 1 winning half-sister to former champion galloper Jimmy Choux was injured when finishing last in the Group 1 Tattersall's Club Tiara (1350m) on the Doomben track in Brisbane on June 23 and her Havelock North owners, Richard and Liz Wood, have decided to retire her to stud.
"She is still over in Australia, spelling on the Gold Coast, and will be served by Zoustar this year," Richard Wood said.
"She got knocked around quite badly in her last race and pulled up with a badly swollen leg."
Zoustar stands at Widden Stud, in New South Wales, for a service fee of A$60,500 ($708100).
Miss Wilson was prepared throughout her career by Hastings trainer John Bary and had 26 starts for seven wins, four seconds and three thirds.
She won the Group 1 New Zealand Thoroughbred Breeders Stakes (1600m) at Te Aroha in April and also recorded Group 3 victories in the Cuddle Stakes (1600m) at Trentham and Red Badge Sprint (1400m) at Hastings.
High class Hastings-trained mare Savvy Dreams has suffered a tendon injury and her racing future is now in doubt.
The Savabeel mare looked to be coming up well in a fresh preparation and finished a close third in a 1000m jumpout at Hastings last Friday.
However, she was found to have some heat in one of her forelegs the following morning.
The leg was scanned on Tuesday and revealed tendon damage in two areas.
"There is a stretch in one area and a hole in another so she definitely won't be racing again this year," Lowry said.
"She has gone back home to her owner Tony Rider's Milan Park Stud in Cambridge and we are now weighing up whether or not she will be tried as a racehorse again.
"She is a Group 1 place getter and will be a valuable mare at stud."
Savvy Dreams had 14 starts for two wins, a second, two thirds and four fourths.
She finished a game third behind Bonneval and Devise in last year's Group 1 New Zealand Oaks (2400m) at Trentham and also recorded Group 1 fourth placings in the South Australian Derby (2500m) in Adelaide, the Thorndon Mile at Trentham and Herbie Dyke Stakes at Te Rapa.